Portugal's talented squad led by captain Cristiano Ronaldo will be under scrutiny when they step on to the Frankfurt Arena pitch to face underdogs Slovenia this evening.
Despite finishing top of Group F with six points, Portugal stumbled to an unexpected defeat against lowly Georgia that raised many questions after they arrived in Germany with high expectations as one of the odds-on favourites to win the title.
Even though the defeat came with Portugal fielding a second-string side, they were still led by Ronaldo and were never able to get a foothold against a Georgia team who seemed to enter every challenge as if it was their last.
Georgia played locked down with a deep back five, a defensive style that has been causing headaches for Portugal manager Roberto Martinez.
Slovenia are expected to take a similar approach on Monday -- a disciplined, deep back five who offer little space, and explosive counter-attacks from long balls.
In March, Portugal struggled against Slovenia who gave Martinez his first defeat after 12 games in charge since taking over from long-time manager Fernando Santos following a disappointing loss to Morocco in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals.
Slovenia won 2-0 in Ljubljana in a friendly which saw Portugal have almost 75% of possession but appear clueless on how to beat their rivals' back five. They ended up getting caught in quick counters, much like they did against Georgia on Wednesday.
Portugal midfielder and Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes believes they will be "on their toes" with that defeat in their memory.
"We wanted to have three wins at this point," Fernandes said on Portugal's tournament so far. "We didn’t achieve that but we managed to go through in first place.
"We don’t have a lot of time to think about what was, we have to think about what’s going to be. We want to win every single game and that means making it to the final and winning the final.
"We respect every opponent. This [Slovenia] team has very relevant names, high-quality players, we respect them greatly. We had a friendly where they beat us and this needs to put us on our toes.
"After the negative results, people tend to focus on the negative aspects but this is how football works."
Midfielder Adam Gnezda Cerin insists Slovenia will not be content with simply reaching their first ever match in the knockout stages at a major tournament.
"It is a new milestone for the Slovenian national team, for Slovenia in general," the 24-year-old Panathinaikos player said.
"We have been enjoying this fact the last couple of days but we are not done. We will try to compete and stay in the competition.
"We have our goals and I think tomorrow’s match will be a beautiful evening for everyone to enjoy because these matches are something you dream about as a kid who starts playing football, but we will try to play tomorrow’s match at the highest possible level.
"We are prepared for Portugal. We know that Portugal has many, many high-quality players. They’re a very, very talented team and they can cause you problems all around the pitch."
Martinez led Belgium's golden generation of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and Vincent Kompany to number one in the world and third place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
However, his Belgium side were also a major disappointment at the 2022 finals in Qatar when they were knocked out in the group stage after finishing third behind Morocco and Croatia.
Now, Spaniard Martinez has a similar responsibility with Portugal and must help their talented squad to reach their potential and shake off the underachiever tag that seems to dog them already.
Monday's game, with Ronaldo on a mission to keep breaking records and a squad that need to make a statement on the big stage, will be the perfect chance to prove their critics wrong as Portugal seek their second European Championship title.
Additional reporting: PA
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